2017 Elliot Norton theater awards announced

Tuesday

May 16, 2017 at 2:05 PMMay 16, 2017 at 7:34 PM

Diane Paulus, the artistic director of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, was honored last night with the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence at the 35th Elliot Norton Awards ceremony at Huntington Theatre Company's BU Theatre.

Awards were presented to more than two dozen outstanding actors, directors, designers and ensembles last night by The Boston Theater Critics Association.

The ART also took home awards for outstanding design/large theater for "Fingersmith" and actress/playwright Anna Deavere Smith took home the award for outstanding solo performance for her "Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education," also at the ART. Kristen Sieh, in "RoosevElvis," by The TEAM and presented by the ART, won for outstanding visiting actress.

"Topdog/Underdog," by the Huntington Theatre Company, took home awards for outstanding actor/large theater (Matthew J. Harris) and outstanding director/large theater (Billy Porter). Jenni Barber won the award for outstanding musical performance by an actress for "Sunday in the Park with George" at the Huntington.

The full list of awards is below.

Two-time Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones was the Guest of Honor. Cherry last appeared on Broadway in T"The Glass Menagerie," which originated at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, where she is a founding member and where earlier in her career she appeared in more than 25 productions.

Joyce Kulhawik, president of the BTCA, said, in a press release, "Tonight was a spectacular celebration of the extraordinary artists who give it their all, heart and soul, every night in and around Boston. Companies large, small, and fringe were joined by artists visiting, returning, and up and coming, all of them with the same purpose: to shine a light on what it is to be human. Tonight the BTCA was proud to shine a light on them."

In addition to the presentation of the awards, nominated musicals, cast members of "Wicked," and young artists from the Boston Arts Academy performed in the spirit of the evening's theme, "Alternative Acts," which Kulhawik described as "a call to art in a climate where the contributions of artists are being devalued and the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) is being threatened with extinction."

City of Boston Chief of Arts and Culture Julie Burros read a Mayoral Proclamation in honor of awards. A gala after party sponsored by the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University followed in the Huntington Theatre’s Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley Studio 210. A portion of the evening’s proceeds will be donated to the Boston Arts Academy to support the region’s next generation of artists.

Sponsors of the 2017 awards are Broadway In Boston, Actors’ Equity Association, The Boston Globe, TheaterMania/OvationTix, M. Steinert & Sons, and Allston Piano, with the support of the Huntington Theatre company.

The Elliot Norton Awards are named for the eminent Boston theater critic Elliot Norton, who remained an active supporter of drama, both locally and nationally, until his death in 2003 at the age of 100. The Boston theater community carries on his legacy and can be proud of its remarkable growth at a time in our nation’s history when the arts are struggling to survive.

For more details on the 35th Annual Elliot Norton Awards, including a full list of awardees and nominees, visit http://www.elliotnortonawards.com

35th Anniversary Elliot Norton Awards

Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence

This year's recipient of the ENP for Sustained Excellence is Diane Paulus, Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater, for expanding the boundaries of Boston-area theater and its role in the national conversation